Bannu Cantt reopens after 5 days

The cantonment area in Bannu was finally opened for general public after five days of closure as police ended its blockade and the mobile network was also restored on Thursday.

The area, however, remained in the grip of widespread panic.

It may be mentioned here that on Sunday, a militant, who had been detained at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) interrogation centre inside the Bannu Cantt, attacked a police guard and snatched his AK-47 rifle after leaving him seriously injured. He freed all the people detained at the compound who seized the building and all the arms and ammunition too.

They made a CTD employee hostage while others managed to escape in injured condition.

On Tuesday, after two days of negotiations, SSG Commandos launched an operation and cleared the compound. The police blockade, however, continued till Thursday afternoon as the compound was full of explosives used by security forces during the operation and defusing it took time.

Funeral prayers offered

The last rites of martyred Constable Khan Wali Shah were offered at Bannu police lines on Thursday. He had been killed by terrorists inside the CTD compound and his body was finally retrieved when the compound was cleared. He was a resident of Tank district and after funeral prayers his body was sent to his ancestral town for burial.

Due to the deteriorating law and order situation, there is great unrest among the general public. Police have been the primary target of terrorism in recent months and there are reports that some police constables have been sent threatening letters by militants in which they have been asked to quit their police jobs.

“In all the three districts of Bannu division people prefer to stay indoors after the fall of darkness. You will hardly find crowds in local mosques after evening,” said a local resident while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2022.